ssh not working/Connection refused on OrangePi/Debian

Try calling sudo systemctl enable ssh _{(based on https://askubuntu.com/a/892449)}
to enable ssh at startup.
If this does not work, proceed:

The best option is to check for:
sudo service ssh status

In my case, the status of the ssh was inactive ssh active: false "start-limit-hit"

Had to check sshd -T for the problems.
Sshd did not work so had to:
sudo mkdir -p /var/run/sshd _{(based on https://github.com/ansible/ansible-container/issues/141)}
Or, at startup, in the /etc/rc.local file:
if [ ! -d /var/run/sshd ]; then
  mkdir /var/run/sshd
  chmod 0755 /var/run/sshd
fi_{(based on https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/openssh/+bug/45234)}


After running again the sshd -T command, "Could not load host key /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key"
ran: ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096
and /usr/bin/ssh-keygen -A _{(based on https://askubuntu.com/a/600585)}


ssh Still does not start at startup, but calling sudo service ssh start seems to start ssh


Called sudo systemctl enable ssh _{(based on https://askubuntu.com/a/892449)}
to enable ssh at startup.

• Best of luck!